How I reverse engineered a commercial spatial audio effect
A developer details their process of reverse-engineering a spatial audio effect for Linux using PipeWire and various psychoacoustic databases. The project highlights the challenges of replicating complex audio environments and the limitations of using LLMs for highly technical audio engineering tasks.
Why it matters
This provides insight into the practical application of open-source audio tools and the current limitations of AI as a technical consultant for niche engineering problems.
Back while I was using a different OS, I used a program which processed the audio being played in real time and made it sound much better. It made the sound feel farther away and a bit lighter to hear, while carrying the relevant information. I'd always wanted a similar program which was equally simple to use for Linux, and decided to write one.
Listen with headphones. The excerpt is from P.I.M.P. by Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band [0] .
The processed version sounds farther from the ears and feels less "on the ear" making it feel less "blocked" after listening to music for a while.
Since I was writing for Linux, my base stack was PipeWire [1] . I had no prior audio experience, so I began by using an LLM as a sounding board while experimenting with standard audio filters and psychoacoustic techniques.
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